


tell me (how to be the one that you love)

by sunsofmars (sun_fey)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional, Love Confessions, M/M, Natsu Dragneel Loves Gray Fullbuster, What The Fuck Are Tags, gray is sad and natsu is trying to make it better, it's hard but he's getting there, natsu is also trying to get through all of gray's angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sun_fey/pseuds/sunsofmars
Summary: "try to be the fire for you, try to be the suntry to be your home and the place that you come tobabe I took the whole world and put it in your handsI'm really trying hard but I don't understand"—natsu just wants to love gray.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	tell me (how to be the one that you love)

**Author's Note:**

> LISTEN I NEED Y'ALL GO TO AND LISTEN TO [THIS](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rTljyiq9w) SONG RIGHT NOW OKAY GO
> 
> I love lp....I would die for her.....go lesbian.....
> 
> when I first heard this it immediately gave me both sns and gratsu vibes and I just 🥺😭

Natsu can't help but love Gray. 

It's been ingrained into his blood, his bones, the very fiber of his being. He's loved him for so long, he doesn't know what he'd do with himself if he just......stopped. 

He constantly tries to insert himself into Gray's life, tries to be there for him, tries to love him. 

Gray just won't let him, though. 

Every time Natsu thinks that he's broken down one of the ice mage's thick walls, every time he thinks that he'd finally been given a chance, something would happen, and Gray would put another one up. 

It frustrates Natsu to no conceivable end. 

But he keeps trying, because Natsu is _not_ a goddamn quitter and he loves Gray too much to give up on him. 

Gray must end up noticing how hard the dragonslayer is trying to push at some point, because he becomes colder towards him, starts shutting him out. 

It hurts. It _hurts_ , and Natsu wishes it didn't, _so bad_.

It's not just Natsu, though — it's everyone else, too. The gods only knew how many times Erza and Lucy both tried to approach him, to get him to open up to them. Wendy tried as well, but gave up the first time after Gray brushed her off.

So Natsu keeps going, keeps trying to knock down those walls, for their friends' sakes, and his own.

(He might also be a masochist, having his feelings hurt repeatedly like this, but he doesn't mind, if it's for Gray.)

Natsu keeps pushing forward, and Gray keeps pulling back, and it's such a one-sided battle that Natsu genuinely starts thinking that, maybe, Gray has started to hate him for doing this. 

Gray finally snaps one day.

"For fuck's sake, go away, you flaming bastard!" Gray growls at him as he stands at the edge of the riverbank — their shared place. They'd gotten into another fight at the guild — they'd been having lots of them lately — and Natsu had followed him here, intent on making sure the other was okay. 

"No! Not until you tell my why you've been acting so angry lately! It's not just me you've been angry at — it's everyone! Erza, Lucy, Happy... even Wendy and Cana.... why?"

"None of your goddamn business! Leave me alone!" Gray huffs and turns away.

Natsu presses his lips together. "Never. I'll never leave you alone, Gray. Nothing will ever get me to do that." 

At this, Gray whirls around, eyes alight with fury, apprehension, and.... something else that Natsu can't identify at first, but hits him like a truck when he finally does.

_Fear_.

"What the hell do you want from me, Natsu?" Gray shouts at him. 

"I want you to _talk to me_ , Gray! Tell me what you're feeling!" 

"Why? We've never talked about our feelings before! We've spent years ignoring feelings! Why does that have to change?" His face twists up in anguish. "Why do you care do much?" 

"Because I love you, Gray! I care about you so much! I hate seeing you like this, I hate seeing you hurting! I can help you, Gray. Please let me help you." Natsu's voice goes soft and waves towards the end, and he steps closer to Gray, who's gone still with shock. 

The ice mage stares at Natsu, his anger gone. "You... you love me, Natsu?"

"Yeah. I do. I have, for a long time." Natsu stands in front of him now, a soft smile appearing. 

".... I don't know why." Gray mumbles, eyes averting. "I'm not..... I'm not worth that. I'm too.... _broken_ , I have too much baggage, too many issues — "

"And you think I don't?" Natsu asks, raising an eyebrow. "I've got issues coming out of my ears, dude. That's not stopping me from being me." He pauses. "At least, not by a lot." 

That gets a small smile out of Gray. They're standing so close now, if Natsu leaned forward he'd be kissing Gray.

He pulls away from those thoughts; they weren't important. There were more pressing matters. 

"And it's also not stopping me from loving you, Gray. I know you said you weren't worth it, but.... to me, you are. I'll always believe that." He carefully takes Gray's hands, looking at his face for any signs of discomfort. There isn't any. "I hope that someday, you will too." 

Gray squeezes his hands, his lips breaking into a pretty smile that makes Natsu's heart skip a beat. His eyes are glassy, but they're no longer filled with melancholia; instead, they're bright, and filled with hope. 

"I love you, ice queen." Natsu murmurs, eyes closing when the other man leans forward and presses their foreheads together. "I always have, and I always will." 

"..... thank you, Natsu. For not giving up on me. I....I think I love you, too." 

Natsu grins, elated. 

(Later on, when they go back to the guild, and the ice mage goes to their friends and apologizes for the way he was acting, and they all pull him in for a hug, the light feeling is still there.

Natsu may have some work to do, of convincing Gray that he's everything to him.

He doesn't mind, for Gray.)

**Author's Note:**

> dbxvbxxvxbzbvd this went a bit differently than I imagined but hey!!! I like it (and so do my friends)
> 
> till next time!!!!
> 
> ([tumblr](https://sunsofmars.tumblr.com/))


End file.
